409

Remember, Michael—this isn't about you.

This isn't about you.

This isn't about you.

I was right; it was about Him.

408

A daily reminder:

If you cannot reliably predict the future,

if you cannot with absolute certainty determine what is good or bad for you because our definitions of good and bad are in constant flux,

if suffering is at the premise of any growth or of any great story, if it is both inevitable and perhaps desirable, and if we cannot tell when it can come,

then what reason is left not to be brave?

407

Too much forgiveness?

Too much grace?

Too much faith?

No such thing.

The only that’s required is enough honesty—about our limitations, our own shortcomings, and our circumstances. To resolve the reality of our situation—this is always a given. But forgiveness, grace, and faith—these things always serve us by putting our heart in the right place.

406

A love worth waiting for.

But what type of love isn’t?

405

One of the most novel and beautiful parts of life is witnessing this spectacle of people changing.

The truth that so many changes happen to us in between the moments that we actually realize it. In between these moments of saying, “you’ve changed” or “I’ve changed”, when was the actual literal moment someone changed?

Seneca said,

“we do not suddenly fall on death, but advance towards it by slight degrees; we die every day. For every day a little of our life is taken from us”

In much the same way, we do not suddenly become changed, as we might like to think about it; we are changing in every moment.

Every miniscule event that we experience or observe, either enriches or deteriorates our minds.

Every fragment of emotion we feel—the joy, the suffering, and everything in between—shapes our heart.

Every ounce of food and drop of water that enters our body literally becomes our body.

This is really all to say why I choose to give the benefit of the doubt, to forgive, to show grace, to not give up on others, and to love; it is because I know that who you are now is not who you will be tomorrow. And who you are tomorrow is not who you will be the day after that. I don’t need to wait for the moment you’ve changed, as if it was a checkbox you suddenly ticked off as complete or a switch you flicked on or off, to believe in you, to show grace and kindness to you, to love you.

This hope is an invitation to fate—to embrace the fact that if things aren’t right at this very moment, because the world we live in constantly changes, and we constantly change, it may very well be that things will inch towards being right, day by day. It might be that any one of these days in the future that I return to you, be it next year, next week, tomorrow, or today, we can together wholeheartedly embrace the new reality that’s been given to us in that very moment.

404

There are very few guaranteed outcomes in life, but often times, we’re better off thinking that there are.

This is, after all, what we call faith—the inexplicable force that impels us to action. It is not blind expectation, and it neither defies nor negates our fate; rather, it syncs the beat of our hearts to the rhythm of circumstance and harmonizes the song of our spirits to the chime of nature.

The truth is that we may not always get what we want now in this very moment, nor are we guaranteed to get it in the future, but the more faith that we have, the more likely we are to get it. And if we don’t? We are left with meaning, purpose, resilience, and usually, something else that we didn’t know we needed.

What does this all mean?

Just hold on. And love.

403

Indeed, in every moment, as I’ve always liked to say on this blog, there is a choice to do the right thing over the wrong thing.

But we seldom remember that in the vast majority of moments, irrespective of how mindful we are, no choice is ever really made.

We often just give ourselves space to feel, to experience the present moment.

We often are stuck in deliberation.

We often just don’t know.

And that’s okay.

Because it will take time, and because the right thing and the wrong thing are in constant flux. At the end of the day, much of it boils down to faith, to patience, to trust—that everything will work out in the end.

402

When there’s nothing left to do,

just look up,

break down,

and believe.

401

Faith—our one defense against the unknown.

400

We emerge from this crucible—

our minds, tested and tried,

our hearts, tender and vigorous,

our faith, restored and renewed,

our souls, filled with redemption.

We will do our best. For You.